College rejects competing bids, moves to negotiate lease for $60M soccer stadium at LWB campus
2 rival proposals fell short on fees and paperwork, leaving Palm Beach Sports Management as the sole negotiator with Palm Beach State College
PALM BEACH STATE College plans to start formal negotiations soon with a private investment group that wants to build a professional soccer stadium at the college’s Lake Worth Beach campus.
The college on Thursday announced its intent to negotiate a potential lease with Palm Beach Sports Management after rejecting competing bids from two other companies: Oak View Group and Sport Surfaces.
The competing bids, submitted after the college sought proposals June 4 under its policy for public private partnerships, “were determined to be non responsive” because one was incomplete and neither included the required application fee, a college spokesperson said.
The deadline for competing proposals was July 21.
The college can now focus on the unsolicited proposal submitted in March by Palm Beach Sports Management, a North Palm Beach-based company that wants to build a stadium and facilities on 12 acres at the southeast corner of the campus along Sixth Avenue South.
The company owns franchise rights with the United Soccer League for both a men’s and a women’s professional soccer team in Palm Beach County. If a lease can be negotiated and approved, those teams would play at the Lake Worth campus.
The company wants to lease the land from the college for an initial term of 50 years, with two 25-year renewals. Lease terms would be part of the negotiations. The construction budget is projected to be $50 million to $60 million, paid for with private money.
“We are excited to begin detailed discussions with Palm Beach State College on a proposed lease that will allow professional soccer to be played at the Lake Worth campus,’’ Brian Seymour, an attorney representing PBSM, said in a brief statement to the Lake Worth Beach Independent.
Earlier this month, Seymour said his clients want to open the new stadium by next summer, capitalizing on the excitement of the Women’s World Cup tournament.
While the soccer stadium concept has been largely welcomed by college officials, Trustee Dave Kerner has been the lone critic so far.
Kerner, a former Palm Beach County commissioner now head of the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, has accused the college of violating state law in its haste to make a deal for the soccer stadium.
Company officials with Oak View Group and Sport Surfaces could not be reached.